Texas has an intriguing history that has been documented since 1519 when Alvarez de Pineda claimed the land for Spain, the first of seven ruling countries to fly their flag over parts of the area or the entire region.

However, the first European settlement wasn’t founded until 1682 when Rene-Robert de LaSalle sailed down the Mississippi to the Gulf and claimed the river basin for France, calling it the Louisiana Territory.

The short-lived colony was followed by Spain’s attempt to colonize Texas, establishing numerous villages and missions over the next 110 years.

After the American Revolution, the United States and France often disputed Texas boundaries, claiming ownership. Following the Mexican War of Independence, Texas became part of that new country in 1821.

In 1835, Texas staged its own revolution immortalized by the Battle of the Alamo. The following year it became a republic. In 1840, the Republic of the Rio Grande was born in January, centered in Laredo, but only lasted until November.

Finally, Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on Dec. 29, 1845. But on Feb. 23, 1861, it became the 11th state to secede, determined to protect slavery, and joined the Confederate States of America.

Several Civil War battles were fought in the Lone Star State, but most Texas regiments served elsewhere. While the war ended in 1865, Texas endured Reconstruction and didn’t rejoin the Union until March 30, 1870.

Now Gov. Rick Perry has declared a verbal war against the federal government over taxes and the stimulous package, which he accepted except for what he called stings-attached unemployment compensation.

His outbursts earned him the title Mr. Secessionist.

The fifth-generation Texan fired up a Tea Party crowd outside Austin City Hall on April 15 when he said:

“There’s a lot of different scenarios. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Some people in the U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, “Secede.”

When Texas entered the union in 1845, Perry claimed, it was with the understanding it could pull out. However, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, the state only negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point if it wanted to secede.

“Millions of Texans . . . are tired of Washington, D.C. trying to come down here and tell us how to run Texas,” Perry said at a press conference. “The 10th Amendment was enacted by folks who remembered what it was like to have a very oppressive government, to be under the thumb of tyrants in an all-powerful government.”

The tyrants that prompted the Revolutionary War were the English, but the tax that triggered the Boston Tea Party was less than what colonists paid for smuggled in Dutch tea.

I examined my latest, basic landline phone bill and learned surcharges, fees and taxes comprise more than 41 percent of the total charge. Under taxes, I pay nearly three times more to state and local authorities than to the Feds.

“Unfortunately, the protections it guarantees have melted away over the course of the years,” Perry said. “I believe the federal government has become oppressive. I believe it’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.”

Even though Perry never used the words “secede” or “secession,” his remarks drew comments galore. I espespecially loved Jay Leno’s observation: “If Texas did secede from the Union, then we could invade it for the oil.”

The governor later digressed a bit, toning it down when when pressed for specifics off camera. That figures in the world of tongue-wagging politicians.

The typical politician usually sounds off more when seeking re-election – just like Perry is. All his recent outburst remind of Macbeth’s final soliloquy, which in part goes:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.